Beschrijving:The Caravelle was operating on a flight from Salvador to Recife and was cruising at 8700m in VMC.The flight contacted Recife Control over Maceio and received clearance to descend to 6150m. Recife Approached later cleared the aircraft for 900m and informed the crew about another aircraft descending from 900 to 600m on the same direction in IMC. When descending through 1800m the crew were surprised by the lights of another aircraft. To avoid possible collision the Caravelle was brusquely manouevred upwards. Landing at Recife-Guarapes at 22:09 was normal. After returning to Rio de Janeiro-Galeao, the aircraft was thoroughly inspected by Panair maintenance. It appeared the plane had suffered serious damage to the structure, rendering the aircraft damaged beyond repair.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Networkís opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.